San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee Meeting – January 12, 2023

Enforcement around illicit fentanyl, and have taken that message to Sacramento and to our nation's capital.

This crisis must be tackled with the seriousness it deserves.

We need stronger laws at the state and federal level that give teeth to law enforcement's efforts at the local level.

Illicit fentanyl should be permanently classified as a Schedule One drug, and I will continue to lobby Washington to do just that.

Consider that right now the federal government classifies marijuana as more dangerous than fentanyl or methamphetamine.

It's crazy, it does not make any sense, and it has got to change.

Our current laws don't fully again again.

You can tell I'm feeling this, right?

Our current laws don't fully take into account the game-changing reality of how potent and how deadly it is, nor its outsized impact on the most vulnerable residents in our city.

It's one of the number of factors that have complicated our efforts to get folks off the streets and onto a path to end their homelessness.

It was a big part of the struggle of two San Diegans, Natasha and Gabriel Martin, who are here with us tonight and have generously allowed me to share their story.

Natasha had a career in sales, marketing, and design.

Her life began to unravel due to drugs and alcohol and, as she puts it, some very bad choices.

This led to a downward spiral of increasingly unstable housing situations, some jail time, and ultimately life on the streets.

Along the way, she met Gabriel, who's also fought the demons of addiction.

The two of them sometimes cobbled together the funds to stay in a motel, but most days they chose to use whatever money they had on drugs.

And that meant staying out on the street.

This past year, while serving time in jail, Gabriel got clean and sober, which inspired Natasha to do the same.

Through the city street outreach, Natasha found her way to a temporary residence at Path Connections, a city-funded shelter, which in turn led her and Gabriel to sober living.

The two were married last September, and today they continue to reside in sober living in City Heights.

Each day, Natasha and Gabriel lean on each other for support.

With each day comes the decision to not use drugs.

So to Natasha and Gabriel, what you are doing is incredibly difficult, and it takes tremendous courage and real strength.

But tonight, I want you to know that I speak for our entire city when I can say we are rooting for you.

You've got this.

We've got your back.

We believe in you.

We are so proud of you.

Natasha and Gabriel's story illustrate our challenges and our approach to solving the homelessness crisis.

Each unsheltered person has a unique set of circumstances that cause their homelessness.

Job loss, eviction, simply not making enough to afford a place to live.

Of course, there's addiction, trauma, and mental illness.

While mental illness strikes in every community, just imagine how much worse it is for people who struggle every day to meet their basic needs.

Last year, during this address, I called for state action on mental health and conservatorship reform to help those who are genuinely incapable of caring for themselves.

I was proud to work with Governor Gavin Newsom and the legislature to pass CARECOR, which will connect people struggling with untreated mental illness and substance abuse with a court supervised plan to give them the help and support that they need.

Last year I partnered with State Senator Susan Eggman on legislation that would reform California's outdated conservatorship laws.

And we came close, so close, but fell just short.

However, I'm undeterred.

I will be teaming up with Senator Eggman once again to reintroduce legislation on conservatorship reform in California.

And this year, this year I do it as the chair of the bipartisan California Big City Mayor's Coalition, which represents the state's 13 largest cities and collectively 11 million people.

We will make our voices heard because California has to do more on mental health, and we will push to get it done.

With all that said, as we do that work, we still have to address the here and now.

This includes the extreme health and safety issues posed by homeless encampments on our sidewalks.

I know that the majority of San Diegans share this concern.

It's not okay for children to have to walk in the middle of the street past encampments just to get to their school.

And we cannot expect people whose homes and businesses are surrounded by encampments to just put up with their impacts.

It's why I've instituted an order to take down tents during the daytime, to keep our sidewalks passable and to discourage hoarding.

We tried hard to keep our streets clean with our environmental services crew coming through and cleaning up debris and collecting unwanted items.

I am so grateful for these hardworking city workers who have taken more than 2,800 tons of refuse off of our streets, making them both cleaner and safer.

But clearly, we must do more, and we will.

Natasha and Gabriel Martin are living proof.

The problem we face is that for every 10 people we get off the street and into housing, 13 people become homeless, many for the first time.

The reality is there are San Diegans who are simply not able to keep up with the rising cost of living.

And it is clear that we must focus more attention on the upstream causes of homelessness to give people a better shot at remaining housed through tough times.

That's why this year, working in partnership with Council President Sean Elo Rivera, tenant advocates, and the rental housing industry, we are going to build out our recently announced tenant protection framework into a city ordinance that does more to protect renters than the city has ever done before.

I've also worked with our housing commission to ensure that those who are most at risk of becoming homeless receive assistance.

And I'm pleased to announce that the commission will be doubling the funding of our homelessness prevention programs from $2 million to $4 million.

This will help an additional 250 households, and we'll be prioritizing seniors, persons with disabilities, and families with young children.

But I want to tell you the truth.

Housing ends homelessness.